What is Group Health Insurance?

Group health insurance coverage is a policy that is purchased by an employer and is offered to eligible employees of the company (and often to the employees' family members) as a benefit of working for that company. A group health insurance plan is a major part of many employee benefits packages that employers provide for their employees.

Health Insurance Types

HMOs and EPOs may limit coverage to providers inside their networks. A network is a list of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers that provide medical care to members of a specific health plan. If you use a doctor or facility that isn't in the HMO’s network, you may have to pay the full cost of the services provided.

HMO members usually have a primary care doctor and must get referrals to see specialists. This is generally not true for EPOs.

These insurance plans give you a choice of getting care within or outside of a provider network. With PPO or POS plans, you may use out-of-network providers and facilities, but you’ll have to pay more than if you use in-network ones. If you have a PPO plan, you can visit any doctor without a referral.

If you have a POS plan, you can visit any in-network provider without a referral, but you’ll need one to visit a provider out-of-network.

If you have an HDHP, you can use a health savings account or a health reimbursement arrangement to pay for qualified out-of-pocket medical costs. This can lower the amount of federal tax you owe.

Catastrophic Health Insurance Plan

A catastrophic health insurance plan covers essential health benefits but has a very high deductible. This means it provides a kind of "safety net" coverage in case you have an accident or serious illness.

Catastrophic plans usually do not provide coverage for services like prescription drugs or shots.

Premiums for catastrophic plans may be lower than traditional health insurance plans, but deductibles are usually much higher.